Join the conversation at Thrive, the Kripalu blog. Read posts on the latest findings in yoga research, like “The Science of Breath,” examining the physiological effect of different pranayama practices.

february podcast:chanting, awakening, and kundalini yoga, with Snatam Kaur

Snatam Kaur, best-selling chant artist and Kundalini Yoga teacher, sings the praises of sacred chanting in this edition of Kripalu Perspectives. She reveals how chanting can help us listen more deeply—to our inner voice and to those around us; discusses its physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits; and explains how it can help sustain us in yoga postures.

Kripalu has been a cornerstone for me, a sanctuary, and a vacation all together. In finding Kripalu, I found a place of peace.—Lin W., Vieques, Puerto Rico

doctor of yoga

After studying for a year with B. K. S. Iyengar, Loren Fishman returned to the United States to earn a medical degree—in part, so he could understand how yoga works. Today, he’s considered a pioneer in the field of yoga therapy.

The Kripalu Yoga in the Schools program has been awarded a $450,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the impact of yoga in curbing substance use and substance-use risk factors during adolescence.

Join Kripalu Yoga teacher Devarshi Steven Hartman for an hour-long moderate/vigorous class that includes a variety of foundational postures, longer holding, and breathing exercises, providing a good workout and deep restoration.

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to empower people and communities to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga.

Yoga: one word, many definitions. It may mean something different for different people, at different times of the year, or at different stages of life, as this month’s feature article illustrates. In this issue of Compass, we invite you to explore multiple expressions of yoga. Interested in the science of yoga? Read our Q&A with Loren Fishman, MD, who’s spent his career in medicine studying the ways in which yoga heals. For an understanding of how yoga and sacred chanting are linked, listen to this month’s podcast with chant artist Snatam Kaur. And follow one woman's journey toward touching her toes (or not) in Danna Faulds' essay “My Imperfect Forward Bend.” We hope this issue will inspire your own quest to uncover what yoga means to you, in this moment, just as you are now.

yoga across the ages

How does yoga impact our lives? Its purpose, benefits, and significance tend to evolve as our practice changes and as we grow, age, and learn. We asked nine yogis from different decades of life—including husband-and-wife teaching team MC Yogi and Amanda Giacomini, Kula Yoga founder Schuyler Grant, Dharma Mittra, and Tao Porchon-Lynch—what yoga means to them.

My first yoga teacher introduced me to the Forward Bend in the summer of 1983. Until that afternoon, I’d never paid much attention to my hamstrings, but I quickly made their acquaintance. If I kept my spine elongated and rotated my hip joints as my teacher, Sue, instructed, I could barely come forward at all.

Learn the scientific way to cultivate happiness, self-esteem, strengths, and optimism. The Certificate in Positive Psychology program with Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, offered exclusively through Kripalu, combines on-campus and online programming over 11 months, beginning April 8.

A recipe for a flavorful plant-based burger is always in demand, and this month Kripalu Executive Chef Deb Morgan shares hers. Lead Nutritionist Annie B. Kay spotlights the nutritional gifts of one of the Mushroom Nut Burgers’ star ingredients.

Early-bird special for Yoga Journal’s NYC Conference
Experience the best of Kripalu with some of our top yoga teachers at Yoga Journal Conference New York, April 4–8. Register before March 1 and save up to $210.

Cyndi Lee releases new memoirMay I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga, and Changing My Mind, by OM Yoga founder and Kripalu invited presenter Cyndi Lee, chronicles her quest to move past her lifelong self-judgment about her body. Her journey of self-discovery took her from India to the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake in Japan, as she sought the counsel of wise women, both friends and strangers.